Pre-K: Review and Play Prep!
This week, much of our focus was devoted to preparing for our performance of The Enormous Carrot. Children chose their parts, decorated their character cards and programs, and, we even started to rehearse!
Language and Literacy
Some of our literacy work was play-related, but, we can’t tell you what it was! You will see the results of the children’s hard work on May 31st. We fished for sight words, we bowled letter sounds, and we exercised our core muscles by lying on our backs to draw on the underside of our literacy table. We practiced writing letters with damp sponges and sight words with tiny wet paint brushes on chalkboards. We also furthered our discussions on kindness by starting to read some books about our differences and our similarities as well as how important it is to respect both through words and actions. The first book we read was Whoever You Are, and here are a few of the things the children noticed:
Their skin wasn’t the same, but their blood is the same.
There was no arguing.
Everyone can laugh.
They are all different, but all people.
We will read a few more books next week on this topic and we will keep talking about how people can be both the same and different while still being friends! We want to end our year with everyone feeling strong and confident, so we will also continue drawing children’s attention to words and actions of kindness that we all notice around the classroom. At the same time, we are encouraging children to speak up for themselves if something unkind is said to them and we are learning to differentiate between something that is truly hurtful and something that might feel like a big deal in the moment, but, upon reflection, was not intended to cause any distress.
Math and Science
The highlight of our week might have been the visit from Animal Craze on Monday. Children got to interact with baby chickens, ducks, goats and pigs, and Martine and I weren’t sure whether the children or the baby animals were cuter. They were a hard act to follow.
Nathan and his mom brought in two lilies of the valley and demonstrated that when we put each in a jar of colored water the color spread up the flower's stem and turned its veins that particular shade! The children loved watching the color progress up each flower and turn their veins blue and orange respectively.
Pre-K reviewed some basic numeracy skills this week. Using manipulatives, they counted out and counted on, they practiced building and writing teen numbers, and they created patterns. They matched and subitized with cardinal numbers and we measured children’s heights for the final time this year! Take a look at our bulletin board to see how much they’ve grown. Martine reintroduced volcanoes for science, although, this time in the form of creating fizz rather than eruptions!
Music and Art
As we wind down our time with Steve, we had some extra fun at our all-school music this week. We sang, we danced, we moved and we grooved. Steve has made our Wednesdays extra-special this year! Our art projects were focused on our upcoming play, by both talking about we might need to make our performance a success and actually creating what we’ve discussed. The children are so excited about their roles and are working together to bring our story to life. By now, you should have received a specially-decorated invitation to The Enormous Carrot, and we hope that you can make it!
Finally, Harry’s parents Adam and Sharleen paid a special visit to our classroom so that Adam could teach the children about working with clay! We learned about when people first started using it, what sort of tools they used, and we even got to work with our own pieces, using our hands and special pottery tools. The clay takes a few days to dry, but should be able to go home next week. Pre-K was so attentive to Adam’s instructions and information, and you will see how much they loved the activity from the masterpieces they carefully crafted. Thank you, Sharleen and Adam!
Have a wonderful weekend, and we hope that you get to enjoy the beautiful weather on Saturday.
Emily and Martine
Books Included:
The Enormous Carrot (multiple times!)
Best Friends for Frances
Office Buckle and Gloria
Whoever You Are
